Powerade

NASCAR's soft-drink promotion wars escalated to an unprecedented level Tuesday when the sanctioning body fined points leader Jimmie Johnson $10,000 for trying to block a display bottle of Powerade from TV view in Victory Lane on Sunday. Coca-Cola, maker of Powerade, pays NASCAR directly as an official sponsor. Johnson has an individual contract to promote Pepsi. You may have noticed how some winning drivers this season have climbed out and immediately knocked display bottles off the roofs of their cars in Victory Lane.

Universal Parks & Resorts said Wednesday it has renewed a key sponsorship deal with Coca-Cola Co., keeping the beverage giant's namesake cola as the "official soft drink" at Universal theme parks in Florida and California for the next decade. Financial terms were not disclosed. The deal ensures Coca-Cola products will continue to have exclusive access to visitors to Universal Orlando and Universal Studios Hollywood, which drew a combined 20.1 million visitors last year, according to industry estimates.

Sport: Wrestling Highlights: One week after finishing seventh at the PowerAde tournament in Pennsylvania, the fourth-ranked tournament nationally, the Kowboys returned home to claim the A.J. Jones Memorial at Osceola with a victory over Timber Creek in the final. He said it: "If you had told me we'd have five place winners at the PowerAde before we went up there, I would have told you that you were crazy. We went there to get better for the end of the year, and we performed even better than we could have imagined."

Swimmers from the North Piedmont Aquatic Club (PAC) competed in the 25th annual Powerade State Games of North Carolina this past weekend at Bolton Park. In all, members of PAC took home 28 medals including six gold medals. Three former PAC swimmers, Kirstin Gardner, Chelsea Lawson and Kaitlyn Tunstall, tallied an additional 17 medals including five gold medals. "I was extremely pleased with all of our swimmers at the meet," said PAC coach Leah Tunstall. "We had strong performances from each age group.

Earlier this season, Tennessee Titans running back and Orlando native Chris Johnson partnered with POWERADE for the “Running Back to Schools” program where the sports drink company pledged $10 to Davidson County schools athletic programs for every rushing yard Johnson registered. Johnson didn’t reach his goal of surpassing 2,500 rushing yards this season. But he was at least able to do some good with his 1,364 season rushing yards. A total of $13,640 will be distributed among 17 schools.

Should Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson reach his season goal of 2,500 rushing yards, he will help put a nice lump sum in the pockets of several Tennessee high schools. One of Johnson's sponsors, Powerade, has committed 10 dollars to the Davidson County schools' athletic program for every yard rushed this season. The fundraising effort will assist high schools in purchasing equipment, uniforms and facility upgrades. According to the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools website, there are 22 high schools in Davidson County.

Universal Parks & Resorts said Wednesday it has renewed a key sponsorship deal with Coca-Cola Co., keeping the beverage giant's namesake cola as the "official soft drink" at Universal theme parks in Florida and California for the next decade. Financial terms were not disclosed. The deal ensures Coca-Cola products will continue to have exclusive access to visitors to Universal Orlando and Universal Studios Hollywood, which drew a combined 20.1 million visitors last year, according to industry estimates.

Rookie Justin Wilson raced to his first IndyCar Series victory Sunday, edging Helio Castroneves in the Detroit Indy Grand Prix. Castroneves led for the majority of the road race on the Belle Isle course but was penalized for blocking Wilson and was forced by rule to relinquish the lead with fewer than 20 laps to go. Series points leader Scott Dixon finished fifth. That result, coupled with Castroneves' strong showing, means the IndyCar championship will be decided at next weekend's final points race at the Chicagoland track.

With Kyle Busch's dominant car getting crunched, Matt Crafton survived a wild finish to win his first Craftsman Truck Series race in Concord, N.C. Crafton avoided the mayhem over the final laps Friday night, pulling away in a green-white-checkered finish to win at Lowe's Motor Speedway. It was Crafton's first win in 178 career starts dating to 2000. Crafton successfully blocked Chad McCumbee's pass attempt in Turn 3 of the final lap and pulled away. Brendan Gaughan finished third, followed by Erik Darnell and Rick Crawford.

The OHS Wrestling Team finished in 8th place at the prestigious POWERade Christmas Tournament at Canon MacMillan High School, in Canonsburg, PA this past Friday. There were 44 teams competing, including consensus #1 Blair Academy, along with National Powers Canon MacMillan, Central Dauphin, Central Catholic, Walsh Jesuit (OH), Ripley (WV), and several of the better teams in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland and Virginia. Although we didn't have any finalists, we did manage three place winners: Fox Baldwin (9)

Earlier this season, Tennessee Titans running back and Orlando native Chris Johnson partnered with POWERADE for the “Running Back to Schools” program where the sports drink company pledged $10 to Davidson County schools athletic programs for every rushing yard Johnson registered. Johnson didn’t reach his goal of surpassing 2,500 rushing yards this season. But he was at least able to do some good with his 1,364 season rushing yards. A total of $13,640 will be distributed among 17 schools.

Kissimmee-Osceola senior Pete Baldwin ran his record to 31-0 on the season (301-20 varsity career record dating back to middle school), winning the 145 lb championship at the nationally-prestigious Powerade Christmas Tournament in Pennsylvania. (3rd ranked prep tournament by Intermat after Beast of the East and Walsh Ironman).Osceola finished 16th out of the 44 team field that included many nationally-ranked teams from PA, OH, VA, WV, and GA.

Should Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson reach his season goal of 2,500 rushing yards, he will help put a nice lump sum in the pockets of several Tennessee high schools. One of Johnson's sponsors, Powerade, has committed 10 dollars to the Davidson County schools' athletic program for every yard rushed this season. The fundraising effort will assist high schools in purchasing equipment, uniforms and facility upgrades. According to the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools website, there are 22 high schools in Davidson County.

Sport: Wrestling Highlights: One week after finishing seventh at the PowerAde tournament in Pennsylvania, the fourth-ranked tournament nationally, the Kowboys returned home to claim the A.J. Jones Memorial at Osceola with a victory over Timber Creek in the final. He said it: "If you had told me we'd have five place winners at the PowerAde before we went up there, I would have told you that you were crazy. We went there to get better for the end of the year, and we performed even better than we could have imagined."

Marion Jones finished second in the 100 meters Sunday at the FBK Games in the Netherlands, finishing in a modest 11.29 seconds. Chandra Sturrup of the Bahamas won the race in 11.15, and Britain's Joice Maduaka was third in 11.46. "I thought I'd be able to break 11 seconds today," said Jones, who will race again on Wednesday at the Grand Prix Regione Lombardia in Milan, Italy. "I'm training right and taking it race by race." The three-time Olympic gold medalist, who has a personal best of 10.65 in the 100, has been shunned by many European meet organizers since being linked to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative steroid scandal in the United States.

Rookie Justin Wilson raced to his first IndyCar Series victory Sunday, edging Helio Castroneves in the Detroit Indy Grand Prix. Castroneves led for the majority of the road race on the Belle Isle course but was penalized for blocking Wilson and was forced by rule to relinquish the lead with fewer than 20 laps to go. Series points leader Scott Dixon finished fifth. That result, coupled with Castroneves' strong showing, means the IndyCar championship will be decided at next weekend's final points race at the Chicagoland track.

With Kyle Busch's dominant car getting crunched, Matt Crafton survived a wild finish to win his first Craftsman Truck Series race in Concord, N.C. Crafton avoided the mayhem over the final laps Friday night, pulling away in a green-white-checkered finish to win at Lowe's Motor Speedway. It was Crafton's first win in 178 career starts dating to 2000. Crafton successfully blocked Chad McCumbee's pass attempt in Turn 3 of the final lap and pulled away. Brendan Gaughan finished third, followed by Erik Darnell and Rick Crawford.